Why?
by ForeverGoldenHeart
Summary: Takes place shortly after Carlisle changed Esme into a newborn. Esme questions why he saved her and his reasons for turning her.


**Why?**

**Author's Note: I got this idea after I saw a Esme photoshopped as a newborn with Carlisle. I wrote this in my notebook last summer when I went camping but I forgot about it until now when I flipped through my notebook and found this story. I typed it up on my computer and revised it before deciding to post it on here. This takes place a few days after Esme was turned. She and Carlisle weren't together yet (obviously) and she wonders what made him turn her. Enjoy! :)**

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><p><em>December 22, 1922<em>

It was another crisp winter night. Carlisle and Esme sat in the living room, while Edward was upstairs in his room playing songs on his piano and stopping occasionally to listen to some Debussy records.

Esme sat by the fireplace reading a book while Carlisle sat at a desk on the other side of the room a few feet away, going through his medical journals.

All was silent between them except for the crackiling and popping in the fireplace. Even though Esme was trying her hardest to concentrate on the story, she couldn't help but focus on the one thing that was bothering her.

_Why?_

Her hands jerked slightly as she glanced over her shoulder at Carlisle, who's back was turned and then back to the book. She flipped the pages at her usual pace, keeping her eyes on the pages but taking nothing in.

_Why did he do it? Why did he save me?_

Carlisle had told her how he had rescued her after she nearly died after jumping off a cliff. He explained to her what she had become after he had turned her. He tole her about their "vegitarian" lifestyle, where they hunted animals instead of humans. Carlisle introduced her to Edward, a boy whom he had saved when he was dying of the Spanish Influenza years before.

It wasn't what she had become or the thirst (as strong as it was) that bothered Esme. It was that Carlisle had explained to her almost everything, except for one thing.

_Why? Why had he done it? What made him do it?_

They barely knew each other before. She had met him once several years before, when she was 16 after she injured her arm. Carlisle was unlike anyone she had ever met. He listened to everything she had to say and didn't judge her unlike most other people she knew.

Esme never forgot about the encounter between her and this mysterious man. When she woke up after she was turned into a vampire, she was surprised to see that he hadn't changed at all until he explained to her what they were.

She didn't believe it right away until she felt the thirst, the craving for human blood. Carlisle took her on her first hunt away from town so she wouldn't hurt anyone by accident to hunt animals. The fire in her throat had been extinguished the moment the first drops of blood reached her mouth. It was an experience like no other.

_Was it out of kindness? Pity? Or because knew me beforehand? Something more?_

These questions floated around in her mind as she tried to come up with an answer. She wanted to ask him herself but she wasn't sure what to say.

_Did he just want to help me like he helped Edward? Would he do this to any other patient who was dying? Or did he have a reason for it?_

After several more minutes passed, Esme decided she couldn't wait any longer to ask Carlisle about this. Esme sighed and closed her book and set it to the side.

"Carlisle?" She glanced over her shoulder. Esme didn't know why she felt so nervous about this. She was still getting used to her new life away from Charles - her abusive ex-husband. She had ran away shortly after she discovered she was pregnant, since she didn't want her unborn child to be victim to the abuse too. Unfortunatly it didn't survive and Esme felt so miserable after, from the abuse ofCharles and her baby's death, that she attempted suicide. Carlisle saved her and she had been with him and Edward since then.

"Yes Esme?" Carlisle looked over his shoulder, back at her.

Esme took a deep breath before saying what had been on her mind for the past few days. "Why did you do it?" she barely whispered.

"What do you mean?" Carlisle slowly stood up and sat down next to Esme on the couch.

"I mean why did you save me? We barely knew each other..." Esme's voice trailed off as she looked into Carlisle's face for any signs of anger. Instead what she found was an emotion she didn't recognize.

_Compassion?_

"Well..." He began. "When I first treated you when you injured your arm, I thought that you were one of the nicest people I'd ever met. You were so full of enery and life and I thought you would have a great life ahead of you." He paused.

"Really?" Esme asked in disbelief.

Carlisle nodded. "When I heard what happened to you from the other doctors I could hardly believe my ears. I couldn't believe that someone so gentle and kind would end up with such a tragic fate. Then I saw you being wheeled in to the emergency room. The other doctors pronounced you dead, when actually your heart was still beating. Their machines weren't strong enough to detect it but I could still hear it. "

Esme listened without interrupting, still having a hard time believing what she was hearing. Even though she had already know how he saved her, she continued to listen to what he was saying.

"I couldn't bear seeing you in so much pain. Even though I didn't know you that well, it bothered me. I waited until they wheeled you into the morgue before I turned you. I wanted to give you a second chance at life because -" Carlisle's voice trailed off.

"Because?" Esme said gently.

Carlisle was silent for a moment. Finally, he spoke again softly,"Well, because I believe you deserved better. I hoped you would have a better life after I turned you than what happened to you before. I - I just wanted to make you to happy."

They both sat in silence, Esme taking all of this in.

"You really think this?" Esme said softly.

"Yes," Carlisle nodded.

They continued to talk for the rest of the night. Esme didn't know what going to happen next or what the future held, but she knew only one thing: this was the start of an interesting new life.

And she couldn't be happier about it.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: And we know what happens next, they later get married, Rosalie gets turned and joins them, etc. :) I had a little bit of trouble writing the last couple of parts but I think they turned out okay. I hope you liked it! :)<strong>


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